The Dead Weather – Sea Of Cowards [Album Review]

by Woody on June 9, 2010

Ever been to a strip joint? Yeah, me neither. But on those occasions that I wasn’t there, the music that welcomed Cinnamon, Sapphire and Luscious to the stage was always the same nonsense. Some crap from Kanye, Hollaback Girl, or some rap-metal hybrid like Korn. But once a night, some woman would have the stones to play something out of the ordinary like The Yeah Yeah Yeahs which piqued my interest.

Well, daring exotic dancers of America and beyond, I give you The Dead Weather. When I first heard The Dead Weather’s debut, Horehound, I was up in the air until I caught their session at From The Basement . Allison Mosshart stormed into screen tossed her smoke down and fired into “Hang You From The Heavens.”‚ I was hooked. The music was filthy and she was sexy as hell. I slowly started digging Horehound and began to admire it for it’s primal beauty.

Sea Of Cowards sees the band back and dare I say even more feral. This album knocks you down, runs you over, and then backs over you in reverse for 35 minutes. There is nary a break between the tunes as they hit you blitzkrieg style. Hell, there’s barely a chorus throughout the album. Jack White and fellow Raconteur Jack Lawrence back this gothic-bluesy spasm with a furious backbeat. Sounds emanate from Dean Fertita’s guitar that are otherworldly. Mosshart, yielding more of the mic than White this go-round, gives the music its edge, proving to be an inspired choice by White in choosing a co-vocalist. She is the type of girl that leaves you wondering if she is going to ravage you in a good way or just kill you.

Some of my favorites include “Hustle And Cuss,” a song featuring some nice Hammond, “Die By The Drop” here Fertita’s guitar brilliance shines behind Mosshart’s demonic vocals, and “No Horse” with Lawrence’s fuzzed out bass lines. The supremely bizarre “Old Mary” works like a charm as the album’s finisher.

While Horehound scratched an itch, Sea Of Cowards shows this latest Jack White side-project becoming less like a hobby and more like a real band. Much like I thought the second Raconteurs album was better than the debut, this is considerably better than its predecessor. That all being said, in the never-ending quest to keep my daughter off the pole, she will not be allowed to listen to this album until she is 30.

Speaking of album reviews and the Dead Weather, have you considered the new Twilight CD? i’ll be damned if it doesn’t have DW AND THE BLACK KEYS!!! Still not sure how i feel about this, but if your goal was the opposite, and you wanted your daughter to hit the pole that much quicker, i’m guessing that would be a good primer based on your above reasons.